John Dos Passos

John Roderigo Dos Passos (b. January 14, 1896; - d. September 28, 1970)[1]) was a highly influential Americannovelist best known for his trilogy of socio-historical novels, U.S.A., comprising The 42nd Parallel (1930), 1919 (1932), and The Big Money (1936). He also wrote Three Soldiers (1921), Manhattan Transfer (1925), and (in his conservative stage). District of Columbia (1952), a trilogy, and Midcentury (1961), as well as many histories, travel accounts and magazine articles.

Contents

Career

The son of a wealthy American businessman of Portuguese heritage, Dos Passos attended Harvard College and was an ambulance driver during World War I. He traveled widely, especially in Mexico.

USA

The USA trilogy was written from a leftist perspective and provides a kaleidoscopic portrait of America during the first three decades of the 20th century by capturing the voices of people from many walks of life. He used innovative techniques, such as "Camera Eyes" and "Newsreels" in addition to narratives and mini-biographies of real people, like Henry Ford.

Conservative

By 1935 Dos Passos was disillusioned with Socialism and radicalism. He could not abide the New Deal because it bureaucratized American life and accumulated too much power. He had become a conservative, and his novels -- always political--took the perspective from traditional conservatism, with a hostility toward labor unions and Communism. A close friend of Ernest Hemingway, they became enemies when Hemingway refused to see the evils of the Communists in the Spanish Civil War. He read closely in the Founding Fathers for inspiration, and wrote extensively for the National Review.